Use Bitters to Make Old Drinks Brand-New

What bitters are—concentrated botanicals preserved in alcohol—is less important than what they’re capable of. Which is, basically, making a brand-new drink out of the same old recipe. Take the old-fashioned. Sub in Regans’ Orange Bitters for Angostura and you plug an amplifier into the drink’s citrus note. Bittermens Burlesque will make it a little sour and a tad spicy. And Dutch’s Colonial Cocktail Bitters, made with hand-harvested flowers and berries, gives the old-fashioned a dash of pepper and a whole fistful of floral. But be selective. As with automobiles, if you have more than three, you’re just showing off.